HYDERABAD: To help the TSRTC get back on the gravy train, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will not allow privatisation of the corporation routes.
During a luncheon meeting with the representatives of the RTC employees at his official residence, Pragathi Bhavan on Sunday, the chief minister cheered the workers up by saying he would give initial impetus to the corporation by providing Rs 1,000 crore in the Budget, kick-starting its journey into sunny days.
“Within four months, the RTC should be on the road to making profits. It should be able to make a profit of at least Rs 1,000 crore every year, and the employees should get Rs 1 lakh as bonus every year,” he said.
The chief minister said the RTC employees don’t need any unions as the government and the corporation management would take care of all their interests.
“There would be depot-wise welfare committees in which one may discuss any problems. Let there be no unions. Let us see how the going will be. If the journey is on expected lines, we will do away with unions. If not, we will revert to unions,” the chief minister said.
The chief minister was very considerate to the needs of the women staff of the corporation.
“Providing restrooms and changing rooms at bus stations for women staff should not come as a demand from them. It is the responsibility of the management of the corporation to attend to it,” he said and asked the women staff to discuss among themselves what kind and colour of uniform would be convenient.
“The present khaki uniform for women looks very repulsive. It looks as though the poverty of the entire country is with us,” he said.
The chief minister, referring to the recent rape and murder of a veterinarian in Shamshabad, said that as a measure of security and safety for women staff of the RTC, they should be home by 8 pm.
“They should not be on night duty. The men should be considerate to women’s problems. Why don’t you be on night duty more so that women can get home and attend to their domestic work?” the chief minister asked.
He also announced that just as the way women employees of the government have three months of child-care leave, the RTC women employees too would be eligible for the facility.
“Women staff would be able to utilise the three-month child-care leave whenever they want, and not when their superiors want them to,” he said.